Perspectif Mini Alex checked in with a informative update about life back on terra firma since arriving in Port Camargue, France on July 22nd after a 35 day solo trans-atlantic / trans-med passage from Boston. Looks like he's fit right in with the Ministas. They're quite a bunch - in Alex's words, "Intelligent, open-minded, multilingual, helpful, motivated, extremely knowlegeable, and just crazy enough." Alex had hoped to make it to Port Camargue in time for the start of the Mini Med Race, only to miss it by a matter of hours after 35 days at sea. He decided to hang out and wait for the boats to finish. He has been warmly received and has gotten a great introduction to the Mini scene in France. And he's sold a bunch of his Genasun power chargers too. - Jeffrey Dingle, M65 USA. Port
Camargue, France Well, life ashore has been a little busier than life afloat. One benefit of not racing was being able to hang out with the top finishers as they came back. The 1st boat back was a fast looking proto that had broken a rudder and withdrawn. Its kinked spreaders, designed to clear a large foresail, made it look more like an elk than a sailboat. The skipper was dismayed by his breakdown, and seemed a little overwhelmed by all the repairs and maintenance that seem to be an integral part of owning a proto. Oh, I guess the 0th boat back, which was there when I arrived, belonged apparently to an oblivious skipper who had gotten a nice big hole punched in the side of his boat during a port-starboard at the start. He slapped a few layers of carbon-kevlar cloth over the hole and around his fractured bowsprit and went back into the race. I went out on the RC launch to watch the first boat finish. This ws the first time I had actually seen a proto sailing. The boat seemed to float over the water, so nimbly it put the Pogo to shame (I'd like to think that says a lot!). When I greeted the boat at the dock, I found a man with the warmest and most welcoming smile I have ever seen. He showed me around his boat, which, for a proto, looked very comfortable and extremely well thought-out. It turns out he was sailing with his brother, which is probably hard for a lot of us to imagine. I've got a bit of a case of proto-envy, but I can take a little comfort because I think I've inspired some cases of panel-envy. "What
did you do for power [on your crossing]?" Many people, maybe most, have a Honda EX350 generator, which is startlingly civilized as far as generators go, hooked to a very beefy battery charger. The combination seems pretty effective, but people hate dealing with the gasoline. Noise, weight, and reliability are on the list of complaints too. There is a lot of interest in solar power, and Genasun charge controllers are now powering a few boats. Everyone here has been incredibly helpful; it makes me happy to think that I may be able to give something back. During the first 5 days or so, I ate almost every meal at the same darned restaurant. The variety was provided not by the food, but by being able to eat every meal with a different set of sailors. I spent a disproportionate amount of time with some Norwegians and Dutch, who, like me, spoke better English than French. Just a few months earlier, the Norwegian skipper had abandoned his cruising boat off Cape Horn after losing a rudder, having nearly completed a circumnavigation. And then he jumped right back into things and bought a Mini. Good nerves. The Dutch boat, a Pogo 2, had snapped off one of their rudders on a whale towards the end of the race. Damn. Later on, I helped a Frenchman take down his mast. Mini sailors seem to have perfected the technique of using halyards from two other Minis to do this instead of a crane. Pretty cool. And cheap. I had seen this guy bust out some amazing splices the day before, so in return for the help, I asked him to open his magic secret ditty bag and give me a taste of his arcane Kabala. I wasn't disappointed. By now, I probably don't have to say this, but the Mini crowd is awesome. Intelligent, open-minded, multilingual, helpful, motivated, extremely knowlegeable, and just crazy enough. At the risk of sounding like a heretic, sometimes I think it's a shame that all we're doing is sailing, and not conquering the world. PHRF be damned! -Alex 08/15/06 |
